Donner Lake Oly Race Report

[ktzmoh]

Taper crazy was not horrible -  probably because I had Nuungate2015 to distract me. Thank you ladies for that! Race weekend itself was lots of fun. We rented a house up at Donner Lake, which is in North Lake Tahoe and shared it with some long time friends. Our kids played together, Lena and I commiserated on the final stages of grad school, and her husband Ironman Scott gave me plenty of protips and warnings about what not to do during triathlon. He was infinitely helpful and took me under his ironman wing the whole weekend showing me how to set up transition and all that jazz. 

The morning of the race Ironman Scott and I got there nice and early and I got my choice of transition locations. Once transition area was set up, and I got body marked, I went out to the lake to meditate for a minute as I’m sure every triathlete ever has done. It was a clear morning and the lake was really beautiful – the water was still and a bit of fog was coming up off the surface. So peaceful. I tried to soak it all in as much as possible and think about the day ahead. In that moment I got a little emotional – this is my first step on the way to my ironman dream. The race ahead felt like a huge endeavor and giant step forward. But I know that in the end, if I’m lucky enough to succeed in the big 140.6, this day will seem just a tiny little baby step. A training day really. Even so, I felt really proud to be there on that beach. I felt really proud to be the kind of person that does things like that – the kind of person that gets up before daylight to train day in and day out, then shows up on the beach at dawn ready to push out on the frontier of my capability - a little further, a little bit closer. No matter how far I still have to go, I was closer that day than I had been the day before. And no matter how slow my first triathlon, it was going to be faster than every single race I never did in all the years before.

I saw the mrs.jacinthe around 7 and she did an excellent job calming my nerves with her cheer and bottomless optimism. She talked me through how the swim would go and transition and told me she'd be at mile 3 of the run so I could look forward to that. I thought about her when I was swimming and knowing she was in one of those kayaks really made me feel much calmer. <3 to you mrs.jacinthe. I told her it was fine to post my picture and update here and knowing you guys all had my back was also really wonderful out there.

I didn’t go too crazy making a plan for the race, I really just wanted to get a feel for the flow of a triathlon and not spend too much time on fine tuning something that was so new to me. My biggest mental obstacles were the swim start and the bike. I knew I could do the swim, but for me the first several hundred meters in open water are just plagued with vertigo.  I lose time equilibrating myself, staying my mind and finding my rhythm. The bike – well that was down right panic inducing to me as a novice cyclist. I had only done my first real ride 4 months earlier, and to climb a mountain was just scary. I figured if I could get through the swim and up to the top of the mountain, the second half of the race would not be a problem. I kept telling myself that if I could make it through Big Sur on an injured knee, then I could make it to the top of this mountain, ride another 20 miles, and run a 10k.

The Swim
The swim start was as I expected –disorienting and really quickly the world started spinning. I breast stroked for a bit and then when I couldn’t do that anymore, I floated on my back, looked up at the sky, focused on my breath and tried to get my bearings. Tick tick tick the time slipped away. After a bit, I counted to 10 and then flipped myself over, plunged my face in the water and restarted my swim. Humming in the water helped me regulate my breathing quite a bit and after that I found my fins and was off. I had no problems sighting, I swam straight and stayed on course. I actually swam really well and could hardly believe my watch when I came out of the water. My pace worked out to e 2:04/100 yards, which is my fastest pace ever - even with the time  I wasted in the beginning orienting myself. And not terrible considering I didn’t even know how to swim at this time last year.

The Bike
T1 was uneventful, if slow. I did well getting my wetsuit off. Someone had told me to lube around the legs and arms and I think that helped a lot. I washed my feet and tried to dry them as best I could. I had trouble getting my socks on, and my sunglasses got stuck in my helmet. Mental note to not put those in my helmet next time. Tick, tick, tick.

I started out on the bike and then immediately saw my husband and kids. I stopped and gave them each a kiss - my son wanted to show me a little race run dance he concocted and my daughter pulled at my shorts telling me she had something to say. No way was I not going to wait patiently for that sweet little angel to form her thought, though it did take a very long time for her to eventually get out: I didn’t get to see you swim, mommy! Next time, baby. Next time.

Pretty much immediately I realized my hydration system wasn’t working. Rules of triathlon violation #1: Know thy equipment. I had to pull over to try to fix it and finally figured out what was going on with the tube – tick, tick, tick. Once I got the situation sorted out, I began my climb. We had to climb 1,200 feet in the first 3 miles so I took it nice and slow, counting my exhales to 100 to keep things steady and keep my heart rate under control. Breathe 1, 2, 3, 4 …. 100. Start again. Breathe 1, 2, 3, 4… I had scoped out 3 spots prior to the race that were relatively flat where I could stop to rest if I needed to, so I focused on getting to that first rest spot. When I got there, I was still feeling good.  I opted to not stop and kept going to the next rest opportunity. When I got to that one, I still felt strong, so I kept right on going and focused on getting to the third. When I finally reached the third potential rest area, I still felt pretty good and was really happy that I pushed on without stopping. I eventually made it to the top of that mountain and began cruising down the other side. I picked up some real speed on that downgrade – I reached 36MPH at one point!

Maybe I was having too much fun on the flats and gentle rolling downhill because I rode right past the turnaround. . To be fair, I didn't know it was the turn around and there was no big sign saying TURN AROUND HERE! and none of the riders around me turned around – but that is because they were all doing the 70.3 and had a different turn point. Rules of triathlon violation #2: Know thy route. Eventually someone who saw my ankle timer was the color of the Olympic race shouted to me that I had gone too far and I turned around. In the end, I added an extra two miles to my ride. Tick, tick, tick.

The route back to transition was soul crushing. The climb back to the peak was just grueling and seemed to drag on forever. The grade was mild compared to the first climb, so it was frustrating because I thought I should be going much faster and I was just confused about why it was so hard to move forward! Then it would flatten tempting me to think we must surely be there, only to turn a bend and see yet another climbing segment ahead. Asshole mountain! Eventually I did make it back to Donner Summit and began the fast cruise back down the mountain to transition. I picked up quite a bit of speed on that downhill, but tried to slow in a controlled way on the hairpin corners so as not to fly off the cliff (literally). It was a little bit harrowing on the descent - several times I actually said out loud get home to those babies, get home to those babies.

I really wanted to keep the bike under 2 hours. Sadly, my mistakes cost me and I came in slightly over on that.

The Run
T2 was also kind of uneventful, though again a bit slow. I’m honestly unsure why I was so slow in T2. I think I may have bungled the helmet/sunglasses removal. And I had trouble clipping my tribelt. But other than that, not too bad. I started out on the run and felt really good. Before I knew it, my pace was getting much much faster than I wanted, but I felt pretty good so I went with it. Rules of triathlon violation #3: Pace thyself, grasshopper. It turns out I didn't have as much giddyup left in my legs as I thought. My run began to suck after mile 3. I had seen  mrs.jacinthe at the aid station which lifted my spirits, but then the road turned to sandy trail after that and I felt like I was just all of the sudden sluggish and my pace dropped a lot. Around mile 4 or 5, there was a pretty decent hill and I just had no gas left and had to walk it. Tick, tick, tick. The course was a little long on the run, and mile 6.2-6.68 for sure violated the fundamental rules of physics and mathematics because it definitely stretched on for at least 2 full miles somehow. All I kept thinking was where the hell is that chute?? When I finally saw it, I bolted for it purely because I just wanted to stop moving my body so badly. And then I got to stop!

I really had no expectations about the run because of how little I ran during training. I loosely wanted to keep it under an hour, but the run was long so I kind of figured that might be a stretch.

Final time:
Swim - 34:59
T1 - 4:05
Bike – 2:01:19
T2 – 2:10
Run – 1:02:41
Overall time – 3:45:12

Overall, I loved everything about triathlon. I loved how my mind was so engaged – it seemed like the problems I was asking my brain to navigate shifted continuously. I loved how I had to constantly be at once in the moment, focused and present, and also thinking one step ahead. I found the mental challenge to be just as fulfilling as the endorphins from the physical challenge. In one moment, I’m finding my way through the vertigo and trying desperately to get my mind and body to connect, then in the next I’m figuring out my swim rhythm. Before I know it I’m preparing myself for transition, trying to figure out how to run out of the water without wobbling and losing my balance, then negotiating the transition to the bike. Now I’m focused on the immediacy of calming my heart, refocusing my breath, climbing that mountain one rotation at a time. Then immediately I’m changing again to instinct mode and focusing on every crack and bump in the road, every hairpin curve to make sure I don’t go flying off the bike at 35MPH. Then wobbly legs in transition again, prepare my body for the run, find my stride, settle into the run and then relax into something more familiar, taking on one mile at a time. I absolutely loved the intellectual juggling act.

I learned so much too. Get in the water before the race to get yourself equilibrated, don’t put the sunglasses inside the helmet, have a bottle of water to clean your toes make sure your bike is in the right gear and hydration is ready to go, figure out a sock solution – they took forever to get on with the not-totally-dry feet, get a bento and put the inhaler and backup fuel in the bento so I don’t have to fumble getting things into my jersey pocket, find a new tribelt or some other way to do the number – that belt was seriously annoying.

So that's it!

[chw57]

Congratulations!!! You killed it!

[Mushe]

I am so incredibly impressed with you and all the progress you've made toward this goal over the year. You must be so happy that you shot for the moon and did Donner Lake, rather than playing it safe! Epic first marathon, epic first triathlon, epic first...what's next? Whatever it is, I have no doubt you will crush that too!

[juliabug]

Congratulations! Are you hooked?

[sadlebred]

Congratulations!!!!

[gt7301b]

Congrats, triathlete!!0

[sassystace]

Congrats! Your recap is awesome and inspiring!

[shauni27]

congratulations! I am SO proud of you! And somehow I missed or forgot that this was at Donner Lake--my old neighborhood!

[bostonmichelle]

Congratulations!!

[mrshandy]

What a fabulous recap!! As someone who is flirting with the idea of jumping into tris next year, this is really informative and inspiring.

Just curious, how did you learn to swim? Did you take a class?

I can swim, but I know nothing about proper form or swimming any kind of distance. I'm thinking I'll take a class. What route did you take?

[joenali]

Excellent work! I knew you would would be well under 4 hours! Congrats!

[emilyj]

Congratulations! What a great race!

[ktzmoh]

Jul 30, 2015 8:19:38 GMT -5 mrshandy said:

What a fabulous recap!! As someone who is flirting with the idea of jumping into tris next year, this is really informative and inspiring.

Just curious, how did you learn to swim? Did you take a class?

I can swim, but I know nothing about proper form or swimming any kind of distance. I'm thinking I'll take a class. What route did you take?

I did, I started group swimming classes in sept and took them twice a week (if my schedule allowed) through March. It was very helpful for me to have someone telling me what my arms should be doing and how to not fight the water. i did a few open water sessions with mrs.jacinthe which were infinitely helpful too.

[trigal]

Well done! Your ability to stay I the moment will help you when you do 140.6!

[labbie]

I love this race report- congratulations on such an amazing accomplishment.
Your grit and determination is an inspiration to me, so thank you.
I'm struggling with some low mojo on the h&f front lately and reading stuff like this really helps me remember why I do what I do. You rock!

[jeaniebueller]

Great job! I love your race report. You rocked it.

[itsme]

Congratulations. Your race report is so inspiring.

[shorewife]

Wow Congratulations!! Sounds like a challenging tri too with climbing a giant mountain and all. And that finish photo is adorable!

[libbygrl109]

Love your report! Well done!

[farfalla2011]

Amazing job!! Great recap, you are very inspiring.

[mrs.jacinthe]

YAY! I'm so glad to read this - I've been waiting for it. Congrats again, and what an awesome experience!

[hannahb]

Congrats!

[thom]

Awesome, super-super job!!

I love how your family is at your races supporting you too. Those extra miles on the bike are a bummer, but you will mega PR on the next Olympic!